Balbriggan Sinn Féin are calling this meeting on jobs to put forward our own proposals for dealing with the current crisis in unemployment. At present there are 372,800 people unemployed in this state. Retraining measures announced in the last budget wouldn’t even help all those who lost their jobs in January or February never mind the hundreds of thousands who are unemployed. The government has failed to address this crisis. There was no innovative thinking. No job creation strategy. No proper proposals. The €100 million enterprise fund will by-pass the vast majority of Irish small and medium business as it only focuses on firms already exporting. Thousands of small businesses are on their knees and the government did nothing for them in the last budget.

The failure in relation to job creation is staggering. The government are cutting €200 million from the environment budget, principally social housing and water infrastructure. They are cutting €54 million from the school build programme. They are cutting €13 million from Sustainable Energy and Energy research programmes. They are cutting €300 million from public transport. If the government is serious about addressing the unemployment crisis and improving competitiveness they should be doing the exact opposite of what was announced in the budget. They talk about the smart economy and competitiveness but the reality is that it will be harder for business to engage in R& D and in innovation which are meant to be key elements of the government’s strategy.

However, we are fully aware that on our own we cannot force this government to change its current DISASTEROUS policies and therefore we wish to hear what other individuals or groups have to say.

It is our hope that at the end of this meeting people will feel that they are in a position to come together around some core principles. If this is the case and people can unite around the issue of jobs, then our voice will be stronger and our chances of putting employment at the top of the political agenda will be greatly increased.

So, come along on Monday 20th April to the Milestone and get involved in fighting for positive policies that put jobs first on the government agenda.

Below is a copy of the letter sent out to community groups, councillors and local businesses inviting them to attend.

Dear

Mary-Lou McDonald MEP and Fergus Byrne, Sinn Féin candidate for the Balbriggan ward, would like to invite you to a public meeting on the subject of Sinn Féin’s proposals for dealing with the current economic situation in Ireland.

The chief focus of this meeting will be on how we can best address the current dramatic increase in unemployment in terms of promoting positive policies in the areas of job retention, job creation and retraining. In addition issues relating to the current public finance deficit will also be addressed.

Clearly, the present situation with regard to unemployment is one in which people need to come together in order to push a positive agenda for jobs in Balbriggan and Fingal. In order to help promote and develop this positive agenda we would like as many different people and groups as possible to attend this meeting and express their views.

As a result of these discussions it would be interesting to see if various groups and individuals feel they are in a position to come together around certain core principles. We in Sinn Féin are completely aware that our simply putting out policy documents will not solve all the problems we face. However, we are also aware that if individuals and groups can come together around certain ideas then all our voices will be stronger and the chances of us creating a positive agenda for jobs will increase.

Once again I would urge you to attend and to express your opinions on the Sinn Féin proposals at the meeting on Monday 20th April, in the Milestone, Drogheda Street, Balbriggan at 8 P.M.

If you would like to read our policy document on tackling unemployment then please visit our website.http://www.sinnfein.ie/

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